The federal government's landlord has signed a lease to consolidate two Portland immigration offices into a renovated building at the southern tip of South Waterfront.

"We signed a lease, and we anticipate it will go through," said Ross Buffington, spokesman for the U.S. General Services Administration, which handles the government's real estate deals.

The new office would include temporary holding cells for people who violate criminal and administrative immigration laws, a feature that riled a neighborhood leader.

"This is not a welcome addition to one of Portland's premier neighborhoods," said Jim Davis, land-use chairman for the South Portland Neighborhood Association. "It doesn't fit the zoning. That's just outrageous. If I lived in the Pearl, I wouldn't expect a jail to be opened next to me."

The immigration enforcement agency currently has holding cells and offices in the Pearl District at 511 N.W. Broadway and downtown in the Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, said Lorie Dankers, the agency's Northwest spokeswoman.

The government has been trying to move workers out of the 511 Broadway building because it doesn't meet earthquake standards and needs a mechanical and electrical overhaul.

Dankers said people are held in the temporary cells while enforcement officers take fingerprints, do interviews and write up paperwork. They would stay no more than 12 hours and never overnight before moving, typically to a county jail or a detention center in Tacoma.

Dankers said she didn't know how many holding cells the building would include and referred the question to the GSA. But Buffington referred the question back to Dankers.

The government signed a 15-year lease with Lindquist Development Co. for 53,000 square feet. Buffington said the immigration agency expects to move in next May.

To make room, the building at 4310 S.W. Macadam Ave. would be expanded to include a three-story addition, according to plans filed with the city of Portland. The building sits at the southern gateway into the South Waterfront District, where drivers on Macadam Avenue enter the neighborhood.

City officials still must approve the work. The plan is scheduled for a hearing before the city's design commission at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 23.

Another immigration agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, will also move. The agency, which handles citizenship applications, is moving to Pearl District offices that are under construction. The agency previously picked West Linn for its headquarters but changed its decision amid pressure from Oregon political leaders for a more central location.